Tell me about Australian High Schools! (1 Viewer)

[Cherrybomb56]

Thank you! Probably 3u English, Biology, Chemistry, 3u Math and still deciding between Drama and Legal Studies. wbu?

advance/ 3u English, advance/3u math, biology, chemistry, economics, PDHPE. Have you bought textbooks for next year?

 

[addictedtobubbletea]

advance/ 3u English, advance/3u math, biology, chemistry, economics, PDHPE. Have you bought textbooks for next year?

Nope, I’m currently still in Singapore and haven’t got the book list yet. Is there anywhere in particular we have to get the books or can we just buy them at the school?
Edit: Wait there will be a book list of compulsory textbooks to buy right...?

 

[addictedtobubbletea]

advance/ 3u English, advance/3u math, biology, chemistry, economics, PDHPE. Have you bought textbooks for next year?

Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t English Advanced 2 units?

 

[addictedtobubbletea]

Well at my school, we had our designated sport day as Wednesday. So on Wednesdays we would wear "sports" uniform for the whole school day, attend classes until around 12:05pm and then the rest of the day was sport. During this sport time you either did grade representation sport (if you made the team) or you did recreational sport. In Year 12 you are allowed to "go home" instead lol. Any "extracurricular" sport you do is up to you, i.e. you could go play Tennis/Badminton competitively on the afterschool/weekends but usually not many people have time for this in senior years (year 11-12). If you are wondering, I mostly played grade representative sport from Years 7-11 and then just went home in Year 12.

Sorry for asking so many questions, I’m still trying to understand how weekends and afternoons after school are typically spent. Do extracurriculars usually happen once a week either on weekdays or after school? In which case students typically just go home after 3pm most school days?

 

[Arrowshaft]

Just to add to the conversation about scaling and stuff, be careful with moderation. Since you’re going to a selective school you should be fine for the most part. However, (it’s hard to explain the mechanics briefly, but I’ll sum it up) what matters along with ranks is the mark gaps between the ranks, as NESA will take this into account during moderation. Don’t worry if you get bad marks as it’s only your ranks and your cohort’s external performance that will truly matter for your aggregate score, i.e. a 70% in maths 4u is actually considered a band 6 aligned assessment score (usually, 2019 was ez though so rip scaling ). Anyways, good luck and don’t hesitate to ask any questions! P.s. I’m addicted to bubble tea toooo
EDIT: also are you planning to take up extension 2 maths in year 12?

 

[andrew12678]

Sorry for asking so many questions, I’m still trying to understand how weekends and afternoons after school are typically spent. Do extracurriculars usually happen once a week either on weekdays or after school? In which case students typically just go home after 3pm most school days?

Extracurriculars are completely organised by yourself so you can have as many or as little as you want. They may take the form of sports, cadets, music, extra tuition, volunteering etc. If you don't have anything extracurriculars I would assume you would generally go home at 3pm (which a majority of students would also do).

I saw your latest question about textbooks. Your school will provide loaned copies for free so do not worry about them. I personally never used a single textbook whilst others have used them alot so their importance is subjective.

 

[addictedtobubbletea]

Extracurriculars are completely organised by yourself so you can have as many or as little as you want. They may take the form of sports, cadets, music, extra tuition, volunteering etc. If you don't have anything extracurriculars I would assume you would generally go home at 3pm (which a majority of students would also do).

I think I get it now, thank you so much!

I saw your latest question about textbooks. Your school will provide loaned copies for free so do not worry about them. I personally never used a single textbook whilst others have used them alot so their importance is subjective.

Oh that is actually a really smart system. How about literature texts etc which need to be annotated?

 

[addictedtobubbletea]

Just to add to the conversation about scaling and stuff, be careful with moderation. Since you’re going to a selective school you should be fine for the most part. However, (it’s hard to explain the mechanics briefly, but I’ll sum it up) what matters along with ranks is the mark gaps between the ranks, as NESA will take this into account during moderation. Don’t worry if you get bad marks as it’s only your ranks and your cohort’s external performance that will truly matter for your aggregate score, i.e. a 70% in maths 4u is actually considered a band 6 aligned assessment score (usually, 2019 was ez though so rip scaling ). Anyways, good luck and don’t hesitate to ask any questions! P.s. I’m addicted to bubble tea toooo
EDIT: also are you planning to take up extension 2 maths in year 12?

So aim for the highest marks possible, but ultimately focus on rank rather than marks. I think I got it thank u !
math has never really been my strongest subject so I think I’ll wait and see how year 11 goes! if I do well in ext 1 I might consider ext 2, but it would just be for the ATAR since I’m not planning on doing anything maths-related in the future
edit: forgot to say but YES bubble tea is going to give me diabetes one day

 

[andrew12678]

Oh that is actually a really smart system. How about literature texts etc which need to be annotated?

All provided for I should rephrase what I said earlier, I read all my English/literature texts but tended to not use Maths or Science textbooks.

 

[addictedtobubbletea]

All provided for I should rephrase what I said earlier, I read all my English/literature texts but tended to not use Maths or Science textbooks.

Oh wow! But does that mean you’re not encouraged to annotate your texts, since you have to return them?

 

[andrew12678]

Oh wow! But does that mean you’re not encouraged to annotate your texts, since you have to return them?

I think pencil is fine, but I used those page markers/sticky tabs things. I think most people preferred books with plenty of annotations from the previous owner

 

[Cherrybomb56]

Nope, I’m currently still in Singapore and haven’t got the book list yet. Is there anywhere in particular we have to get the books or can we just buy them at the school?
Edit: Wait there will be a book list of compulsory textbooks to buy right...?

no I don't think so. Yeah you can get books online or in store. some schools give our textbooks and some don't.

 

[Cherrybomb56]

Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t English Advanced 2 units?

yeah.

 

[Cherrybomb56]

Extracurriculars are completely organised by yourself so you can have as many or as little as you want. They may take the form of sports, cadets, music, extra tuition, volunteering etc. If you don't have anything extracurriculars I would assume you would generally go home at 3pm (which a majority of students would also do).

I saw your latest question about textbooks. Your school will provide loaned copies for free so do not worry about them. I personally never used a single textbook whilst others have used them alot so their importance is subjective.

Since the new syllabus has changed, have the schools already bought the new textbooks?

 

[andrew12678]

Since the new syllabus has changed, have the schools already bought the new textbooks?

I have absolutely no idea about this one since I am no longer at school. Perhaps a more recent graduate could answer this question

 

[addictedtobubbletea]

I think pencil is fine, but I used those page markers/sticky tabs things. I think most people preferred books with plenty of annotations from the previous owner

Interesting!! It’s the opposite here

 

[addictedtobubbletea]

Since the new syllabus has changed, have the schools already bought the new textbooks?

Oh, when did the syllabus change? Are past HSC papers still relevant to use then?

 

[Cherrybomb56]

I have absolutely no idea about this one since I am no longer at school. Perhaps a more recent graduate could answer this question

oh ok thanks, cause our teacher says that we have to buy our own ones

 

[Cherrybomb56]

Oh, when did the syllabus change? Are past HSC papers still relevant to use then?

I think last year. Not all subjects but the main one's math, English, the sciences. Some questions from past papers will be relevant but not all. Btw in Singapore, how is the education there? When does school start and end for you?

 

[Cherrybomb56]

Correct me if I’m wrong and sorry if I sound a bit rude but can international students apply for selective schools?

Yes they can.